


You’re There With Open Arms

by Strength_in_pain



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abusive Neil Hargrove, Angst, Caring Mike Wheeler, Child Abuse, Crying Max Mayfield, Crying Mike Wheeler, Face Slapping, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Max Mayfield Sad, Mike Wheeler and Max Hargrove, Mike and Max friendship they deserve, Mike and Max need hugs, Neil Hargrove Being an Asshole, Neil Hargrove's A+ Parenting, Physical Abuse, Sad, Sad Mike Wheeler, Slapping, Soft Mike Wheeler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-11-18 17:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18124391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: The two times Mike and Max comfort eachother.Max was the first one in need of some love. She got in the way of her abusive step dad which landed her a busted up lip. She’s handling it pretty well, running away in the dead of night. She lands herself at Mike Wheeler’s house.Mike’s turn. He’s late to school and Max can tell immediately that there is something wrong.These kids are sad, cold, and in need of some hugs. Luckily they have each other to lean on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’m really excited about this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. 
> 
> (Warning: There is slight mentions of abuse. If this is triggering for anyone be careful when you read or don’t read it. But it’s really not heavily written. Just a little in the beginning and during Max’s dream.) 
> 
> Enjoy :)

> **There With Open Arms.**

After the Snowball dance, Max and Lucas were basically an official couple. She would hang out with him every Friday night and they would watch movies and basically have mini-dates all the time with laughing and kissing. So things with Lucas were going well. 

But things at home could not have been worse. Max’s brother, Billy, stopped messing with her, but she finally witnessed why her stepbrother might have such horrible anger issues. His father, her stepfather, Neil was beating the hell out of him. 

Max did the only thing she could think of, she ran into the situation screaming for him to stop, and hit the man repeatedly until he did. 

Or until he spun around and slapped her that is. Either way, he stopped beating Billy long enough for Billy to retreat into the safety of his room. 

Max was laying on the floor, her lip bloody, looking up at her stepfather in terror. She’s never been hit before, it feels kinda of surreal. Like it didn’t really happen, but the blood on her lip says it did. 

“You don’t mention shit to nobody, understand?” Neil spat down to her. 

She nodded quickly. 

That’s how he left her, sitting on the floor with a busted lip. Not that Max minded though, the pain wasn’t that bad. She’s suffered worse from her several skateboard accidents. Still, it kinda hurt knowing that this was her life now. If her Mom wouldn’t have re-married maybe this wouldn’t be happening. 

Max stood up quickly and went to her room. Without pausing, she opened her window and climbed out. She grabbed her skateboard from inside, it was leaning against the window, and she sped off into the night. She wasn’t sure why she decided to run away. It’s not like it would help anything, nor did she know where to even run to. It’s not like she wanted to burden Lucas with any of this crap. But still she left and she was heading in Lucas’s direction. 

So she skated off into the night, just gliding along the streets. At one point she started to cry. Her vision was extremely blurry, and as she rounded the corner to Lucas’s house, she swore she saw a cat or some type of animal run out in front of her. Swerving on her skateboard, Max toppled down the cement street, summersaulting until she stopped in the driveway of...Mike Wheeler’s house.

“Jesus! What happened.” 

Funny, she thought, that sounded a lot like Mike. But she was pretty sure she was imagining the moment where she fell in the gymnasium and Mike had said something similar, along those lines. 

But then a dark-haired boy with way too many layers of clothing came into her vision. 

“Mike?” She asked. 

“Yeah it’s me. Are you okay?” He crouched down next to her and winced. “You’re cut up pretty good. Oh, and your lip is busted real bad.”

Max tried to smile, but when she did, her lip started to bleed more and it hurt like hell. “What are you doing out here, Wheeler?” 

“Taking out the garbage. I do have chores, ya know.” 

Max closed her eyes. She felt way to dizzy and sick to pick a fight with him. Besides, she didn’t want to fight with him. The thing is, Max actually likes Mike. He's smart, he's thoughtful, resourceful, and he's caring, at least towards his friends. But ever since they found Eleven, Mike has been way nicer to her. He has even apologized and everything. So it’s Max’s own fault that their relationship hasn’t progressed. She hasn’t let it. But maybe she should, for once, let her guard down around Mike Wheeler. 

“Did you hear me? I asked if you can stand up.” He said it genuinely. No sass behind it, which was strange. He usually only spoke to her with some type of sassy or sarcastic tone if he wasn’t yelling at her. But right now, Mike looked so concerned, like he was afraid she would break or something, and that didn’t feel right. Max would rather him pick on her than pity her. 

“Oh yeah.” Max whispered, grunting as she lifted her body off the pavement. She stayed hunched over. Her back hurt, and her skin was cracked across her knees. It hurt too much to stand straight. 

“Here,” Mike slipped his arm around her waist and put her arm over his shoulder. “Let’s get you inside.”

“But your parents.”

“Don’t worry about them.” Mike laughed, but there was something pained behind his words. Something he wasn’t saying. But what, Max had no clue. She could just hear it in his voice. “I hid El in my basement for a week and they never knew.” 

Max nodded, allowing Mike to lead her inside because it felt good to go somewhere warm.  

They get inside, and Max can’t help but stare. This is _the famous basement_ where everything went down the last two years. It was Mike’s basement, where he had his most secretive and precious moments. And it’s a place she has never been before, except for today. 

It was big, but cute and warm. It looked like home, with a soft blue rug on the floor, and a desk with a light, plus a couch. Then there was an adorable little fort built to the corner of the room. El’s fort. 

“Hey.” Mike said, “You okay?” 

Max thinks about how his basement seems relaxing, looks nice, feels...safe and then she thinks about her own house. How cold it seems. Like the building was built to keep in the intoxicating violence. Like it was there to keep her trapped. Her own bedroom felt more like a prison than a room. She thinks about how empty she feels on most days. 

“Yeah,” she muttered and brushed past him further into his basement. “I’m fine.” 

Mike looked like he wanted to say something, he opened his mouth, almost did, but he stopped. Instead he chose to nod. 

“I’m going to go get you something for your lip and knees. Just, make yourself at home.”

Home. This would never be _her_ home. She would never really have a real home like Mike did. The thought makes her blood boil with jealously, but she shoves it down. It’s not Mike’s fault. 

She sat down on the couch, and pulled her knees to her chest. She felt so tired, like she could fall asleep any moment. How late was it? She didn’t even check before she left her house. If Mike was taking out the trash it couldn’t be that late. Still, she felt her eyes drifting shut. 

Then suddenly, she feels her Step-Dad reach for her throat, she feels him slam her against a wall, and bash her head against it, like she saw him do to Billy. She feels the blood start to trickle down her forehead into her eyes. 

“Max?”

She shot up like a jack-in-the-box. Her head swiveled to the side, and sure enough Mike was sitting there, crouched down by the couch with a first-aid kit in hand. 

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “God.” She muttered, gripping the couch tightly. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mike said gently. Was this how he treated Eleven when she was hiding in his house too? If so, Max wasn’t sure how Eleven could stand it. He was so sweet, gentle, and kind. It was weird. 

“Here. You should put this on your cuts. It’s an antibiotic. My mom always makes me use it before bandaging anything.”

Max scoffed, “I know what an antibiotic is.” She muttered, “and when did you ever get hurt? Not like you were on a sports team.”

Mike’s jaw was set, and his teeth clenched. Maybe she pushed him too far and he was going to kick her out? But Mike simply pulled out a big wad of gauze and said, “Troy. He was a bully, and he use to beat me and my friends up. I’d come home with a busted lip, just like yours, and sometimes a few bruises.”

“Oh.” Max said, feeling guilty. 

“So who did it to you? Was it Billy?” He asked, dabbing her knees with some alcohol swabs. She cringed, and winced away. 

“Careful Wheeler, that freaking hurts.”

“Sorry.” He said, but he didn’t stop patting her knee with the cotton ball. 

“And no. It wasn’t Billy.”

“Oh.” He said. “Sorry. I just assumed...”

Mike put the cotton ball down, and applied the antibiotic. He then started to wrap her knees with gauze, and then he bandaged them. 

Max watched carefully, smiling in amusement at how careful he was. There was a light that flipped on, and Max jumped two feet, heart pounding. 

“Sorry, that’s my Mom.” Mike quickly got up and ran to where the stairs were so his mother wouldn’t come down. 

“Michael, I just put Holly to bed, so you shouldn’t be playing for much longer. Also, I want you upstairs in fifteen minutes so you can help Nancy load the dishwasher. She did it for you last week.”

“Mom,” He whined like a little kid, “I just took out the trash.”

“And now you’re going to help your sister.”

“Why?” 

“Because I said so.”

“She can do it herself. She has arms.”

“Michael.” 

“Fine.” He said, “I’ll be up in fifteen minutes.”

Karen Wheeler closed the door with a slam, and Max jumped again. 

Dammit she hated feeling so tense. It made her angry. 

“Does your mom always slam the door like that?” Max asked rather bitterly. 

“Yeah. Usually.” Mike crouched back down next to her, but Max stood up.

“Well I should get going then.” 

“You don’t have to.” Mike said, standing as well. “We have fifteen more minutes.” 

“To do what?” Max shouted in annoyance, but it wasn’t because of Mike. She was just tired and irritated. Maybe the full affects of being slapped were finally rubbing off on her. “Talk about our feelings? Because I’m not doing that.”

“You don’t have to. I never asked you to.”

“You already took care of my cuts, so like, what else is there to do?”

“I don’t know. You could hang out with me. We could just relax.”

“No thanks.” She said, feeling her voice growing tight with emotion. Shit. She needs to leave now. She walked towards the door, but Mike was hot on her tail. 

“Max! Stop!” He called. 

“Go away.” She said. 

“Max, come on.” He followed her out onto the driveway. She picked up her skateboard, with more force than necessary. Why couldn’t she have Mike’s mom. Why couldn’t she live in Mike’s house. Why did her mom have to remarry. She hated everything. 

“Are you really going to try and runaway from your problems?”

She especially hated Mike Wheeler. She threw her middle finger in the air, pivoting to leave, but he ran forward and grabbed her shoulders before she had the chance to go. 

“Max, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I just think you should stay. If...if they are hurting you...you should stay with me. You know, so you can be safe. You can sleep in El’s fort. Or I could walk you to Lucas’s house.”

“I don’t want to go to Lucas’s house,” she yelled, catching Mike off guard. 

“Why?” He asked. 

“Because, I don’t want him to see me like this.” 

“Oh,” Mike said processing, “okay. You don’t have to see him. You can do any thing that makes you comfortable. That’s all I want.”

Max curled her fists and focused on her board in her hands. She felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. _I don’t want you to see me like this either,_ she wanted to say. 

“Max..” she could hear the pity in his voice.

“Just leave me alone -“ she said, but Mike tightened his grip on her shoulders, and pulled her close. Suddenly, she was wrapped in his arms, completely embraced by Mike. 

It was too much, she felt too much. Her eyes filled with tears, and they started to slide down her red cheeks. 

“I hate him.” She said, and now she’s doubled over in tears, sobbing out all of her frustrations, and pain. “He’s such a jackass! He beats Billy, he slapped me. He slaps my mom.” She explained through her tears. 

Mike pulled back, and Max shrunk in horror, because he made eye contact with her. She was a mess of tears and snot, and was completely vulnerable and Max wanted to shrivel from embarrassment and die. But Mike, he did something no one has ever done before, he grabbed her hands, both of them, within his own, and he looked her in the eyes. 

“This is not okay.” He said. “What he’s doing to you, is not okay. But you don’t have to go through it alone.”

He let go of her hands, and wiped away one of her tears with his thumb. “Anytime you need anything, I’m right here. And my sister can help. My parents. Lucas. Dustin. Will. Hopper. Mr. Clarke. There are so many people that love you, Max. And we are all willing to help you if you let us.”

She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She wanted to say thank you or that was the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me, but her voice was failing. She was in utter shock. 

“You can sleep here tonight, in El’s fort. Or on the couch. We can call it Max’s couch. Do you want to?”

She nodded. Mike smiled and led her back into the house. “You’re gonna be okay, Max.”

And she believed him. Because right at that very moment, she felt safe and loved. 

“Thanks.” She finally manger to whisper. 

“What are friends for.” He said. 

 

It’s been three weeks since Mike let Max stay at his house, and since then things have been progressively better. She did open up to her guidance counselor at school, which was making things a little bit easier for her. She was learning ways to deal with her anger and cope with feeling helpless. She likes running, and kickboxing. It gave her power. 

 

School was going well. Max was sitting in homeroom with Lucas waiting for the bell to ring when Mike walked in. He was late. He had already missed the morning announcements and the national anthem. 

 

“Mike, you need to sign in.” Their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Winters said. 

 

Mike’s head had been down since he walked in, and Max knew instantly that something was wrong. 

 

He scribbled his name onto the tardy sheet, and quickly took his seat. Max stared at Mike who was sitting on the opposite side of Lucas. The kid couldn’t even bring himself to look up. One elbow was propped on his desk while his hand was cradling his forehead. The other arm was wrapped tightly around his stomach.

 

He looked sick or something. She watched as Lucas gave him a small nudge. Mike didn’t move, didn’t look up or even acknowledge his friends. 

 

Lucas turned to her, and they both shrugged. 

 

Max saw Mike shift uncomfortably in his seat and wondered if he was feeling anxious over something. He clutched his stomach, which made her concerned. 

 

Finally, the bell rang and Mike gathered his books and rushed for the door so fast that Max didn’t even have time to blink.

"You think he's okay?" Lucas asked as he gathered his things.

Max shook her head. "Not a chance. We need to get him."

He was walking quickly down the hall, Max ran past a few kids to chase him down. 

“Mike! Hey, Mike!” She finally caught up to him, and grabbed him by the sleeve. 

“Mike.”  

He turned toward her, his eyes red and puffy. “What?” He croaked out, voice incredibly raspy. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, genuinely worried. 

“I have to get to class.” He said, turning away from her. 

She refused to let go of his sleeve. Holding him in place she said, “Screw class. We can skip first period. Tell me what’s bothering you.” 

By now, most of the kids have cleared out of the hallway because the bell was about to ring. 

“Max, let go.” Mike said desperately. “You’re going to make me late for class. I don’t want to get in trouble again. Please just let me go.” 

“What do you mean again?” 

“I got sent home early yesterday, remember?”

Max winced, she did remember. Another school fight was happening, and Will was in the middle of it. Some kid was picking on him and Mike stepped in to stop it. 

“Will appreciated your help. You stopped that bully dead in his tracks.” Max said, but Mike’s eyes were filling with tears again. 

He gulped, “I don’t feel good.” 

“Why don’t we sit down.” Max suggested, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the cafeteria. 

“Max, I’ll literally get in so much trouble.” 

As soon as he said it the bell rang. Screw his life. He was in so much trouble. 

Max sat in the empty cafeteria, and Mike sat beside her in silence. He held his head in his hands. His breathing was intense, and he really looked like he was about to puke. 

“Mike? Talk to me. What’s going on. Why are you so upset?” She asked, putting a hand on his back, to try and soothe him. 

“I told you, I got in trouble yesterday. How do you think my parents reacted?”

Max was taken aback by his venomous response. 

“Not too good, obviously.” She said, retracting her hand. 

“I broke my family.” Mike’s voice started wavering. His lower lip began to wobble. 

“Mike...I’m sure you didn’t -“

“No Max!” He yelled, tears flying down his face, “You don’t understand. I broke them. My Mom... she...”

He couldn’t finish what he was trying to say. Instead he burst into a much needed cry. Max threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. 

“I’m so sorry,” She whispered even though she didn’t know what was bothering him.

“I’m the worst person.” He sobbed. 

“No. No you’re not. Stop.” Max said, pulling back from the hug. “You’re a great person.”

Mike shook his head in complete denial. “I’m not. I’m not. Max, my mom hates me. And I deserve it. I freaking deserve it.”

“Mike stop it.” 

“Do you know what happened last night? I was in my room, being grounded, waiting for my mom to come talk to me. But it was 11:15 at and she didn’t come in my room. I was worried, so I left even though I wasn’t allowed. And do you know what I found? I found my mother laying on the bathroom floor covered in vomit.”

Max cringed, grabbing both of Mike’s hands to help him through his story. 

“She could barely sit up and use the toilet anymore because her body was so weak... she was drinking herself sick because of me. I stressed her out so much, I made her sick. And when I tried to clean her up she yelled at me. But it’s okay,” he coughed, “I deserved it. And then, after she yelled at me, she slapped me across the face.”

“Shit Mike.” Max breathed, and reached for him, “Just Come here.” 

Mike leaned into Max’s embrace and let her hold him for a little while. At least until he stopped sobbing. The hug felt warm, it felt right, it felt safe. He wanted to feel safe and warm. But Mike’s body was cold. So freezing cold it could give Max frostbite. 

Mike sniffled, but he was calming down after a little while, and Max finally pulled back from the hug. “Are you okay now?” 

Mike snorted, wiping his wet cheeks, “I’m fine.” 

“You’re gonna be okay, Mike.” She said softly, but she wasn’t sure if that was true. Mike’s family was so picture perfect it would be difficult to get someone like Hopper to believe that they weren’t so kind. 

“I know. Thanks Max.” He whispered, but there was that sound behind his voice again. That pained sound, Max realized, is sadness towards his family. 

“Are you afraid to go home?”

Mike shook his head. “No.”

“Oh.” Max smiled, “well that’s good.” 

“But it’s not much of a home, Max.”

She looked at her hands with an equal amount of sadness. The Wheeler’s house felt so warm, so nice, but Mike’s eyes look so hurt, so cold she immediately believed him. 

“I’m sorry.” She needs to stop saying that, but it’s all she can think to say. 

“Not your fault.” He muttered. One more swipe of the eyes and he added, “I’m sorry too. I don’t like you seeing me like this.” 

“Now we’re even.” Max said, but she wasn’t laughing. There was nothing funny about her being slapped three weeks ago, and now, the same thing happened to Mike. 

“Yeah, even.” He said, eyes glazing again. 

“Mike please don’t be sad.” She said. “You have to understand it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t break your family. I’m sure you help in every way you can. Sometimes things just fall apart for no apparent reason. Look at my life.”

“Max.”

“No it’s okay. It’s true.” She said smiling and pained smile, “but I’m okay. Thanks to you, I’m okay. So I want you to know that I’ll be here until you’re okay. Whenever you need me.” 

Mike finally smiled. It was like seeing the sun peak through after a year of snow and clouds: relieving and happy. 

The most ironic part about all this is that Max couldn’t even see where Mike was slapped. It happened last night, so the mark clearly already faded, but it was like invisible to everyone else. Kinda like how Mike’s pain is invisible to everyone else. She never would have realized it before. She wondered if his friends realized it. They probably did.  But he trusted her enough to open up. And now she could see the invisible cuts and bruises she never could before.

It was there, a busted lip. But it was surreal, like it didn’t really happen. It wasn’t there anymore, his red cheek, but it really did happen. _Funny how things can look so much better on the other side, until you realize it’s the exact same._


	2. Cleaning out my Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the evening after Mike got hit by his parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a prompt from Darkraider46 and I thought it fit well with this fic. Hopefully you enjoy.

“Mike! Nancy! Dinner is ready.” 

Sighing, Mike put down his acoustic guitar. He was tired of his parents constant bickering that happened every time he ate dinner. Tonight, though, it was his fault his parents were fighting. He had ditched first period, not on purpose, but Max needed to talk to him. He shuttered at the embarrassing memory of telling her what had happened. 

His cheek still ached slightly, but there was no mark. Almost like, if he pretended hard enough, it never even happened. 

He pushed his guitar back under his pillow fort, then slowly climbed the stairs, out of the basement. 

He was greeted with the warm smell of cherry pie and lasagna. Sitting in his usual seat, Mike leaned over and handed Holly her teddy bear who fell to the ground at some point. The little girl instantly stopped blubbering as she clung to the toy. 

“Berry.” She squealed with delight, holding him out to Mike. 

“I know. You dropped him, silly.” He grabbed the bear’s ears and flopped them around, captivating Holly’s attention. He was having such a good time with his little sister, he didn’t notice his mother sit down across the table from him. 

“Michael. Help Nancy set the table.”

“It’s okay, Mom. I got it.” Nancy placed the last glass cup in front of Mike and smiled. As she headed into the kitchen, Mike wondered if his big sister heard what happened this morning. She probably didn’t. It was a big house. Then again, Mike knew from experience that the walls were thin because he could hear every word his parents said when they argued about money, sex, and worst of all, their kids. 

He knew his father was disappointed in him for not having more friends. Ted Wheeler wanted a son that was popular and into sports. Someone who wasn’t a sissy as Mike heard him put it. 

He had never cried so hard than the day he heard his father say that. Since then, their relationship barely consisted of anything more than a few words to each other. 

His mom, however, was always there for him. That is, until she started drinking. Mike blamed his father for that too. His mom would have never developed such a nasty habit if he spent more time with her. He was a useless piece of space and Mike grew angrier and angrier just looking at him. 

“Michael. Did you hear me? I said pass the peas.” 

Mike practically flung the bowl of green peas at his father. As soon as it spilled, his mom was jumping out of her chair to get a paper towel. 

“What is wrong with you, son?” Mike’s father said, a scowl planted on his face. 

“Sorry.” Mike muttered. He really didn’t mean to throw it like that, but his anger was getting the best of him and at thirteen-years-old his hormones were not helping. 

“You know, you’re already in a lot of trouble for ditching class. But now you are making it worse for yourself.”

When his mom came back in the room, she was cleaning the spill and shaking her head. “I’m disappointed in you, Michael.”

His lower lip wobbled. First she slaps him and now she’s disappointed in _him?_  He looked to his father who was still frowning and then to his sister who was staring at him pitifully. 

“You are going to clean out the basement and then hand over your guitar.”

“No-oh.” Mike’s voice cracked as the flood gates opened. He really didn't want to cry in front of everyone. So he jumped out of his chair and ran to the basement. 

Growling, Mike kicked the pillows in his fort until they burst open and feathers went flying. 

“Screw you!” He screamed. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair.” 

He started digging around in the basement, pulling out old Knick-knacks that his parents had and started smashing them on the floor. As he angrily ripped through some of the boxes he started singing to himself quietly. 

“All this commotion emotions run deep as ocean's exploding. Tempers flaring from parents just blow 'em off and keep going.” He said, feeling just a little bit better as he continue to sing and throw things away. 

“Look at me now, I bet ya probably sick of me now aren’t you mom?” 

Unbeknown to Mike, his friends were behind him listening to him sing. 

Max walked up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. When he jumped back she released his shoulder. They made eye contact for a second, before she wrapped him in a warm embrace and let him cry on her shoulder. 

“I told you, I’m here for you.” She whispered. “We all are. You’re not alone, Mike. Let it out.”

“I’m sorry. This is so pathetic. I’m sorry.”

“Just let it out. It’s not pathetic.”

Mike sobbed until his body was shaking, but Max hugged him through it all. She truly was a good friend, and Mike swore to himself he would get her help with her Step-Dad. Together they were going to be fine. 


End file.
